In the process of manufacturing various kinds of semiconductor devices, a silicon oxide film is frequently formed for the purpose of forming an insulating film or the like. Because a silicon oxide film is very stable and serves as a protective film against outside, the film formation technique takes an important position essential in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices. Particularly, micropatterning of semiconductor devices has recently advanced, requiring a technique of accurately forming a thin silicon oxide film of a good quality which has a thickness of several nm or so.
Formation of an oxide film on a silicon surface has often used thermal oxidation so far. However, thermal oxidation which is executed at a high temperature has a problem of causing damage, such as re-diffusion of a doping impurity, due to a heat process.
As a technique of forming a silicon oxide film in a plasma process, there has been proposed a method of forming an SiO2 film on the surface of a target substrate essentially containing Si, using plasma based on microwave radiation via an planar antenna member having a plurality of slits at the presence of a process gas containing at least an O2 gas and a rare gas (for example, Patent Document 1).
[Patent Document 1]
International Publication No. WO2002/058130